


I Found a Martyr in My Bed

by HolleringHawk65



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse)
Genre: (like super light), A-Z, Anal Fingering, Chris Has Nightmares, Christmas Time, Dogs, Established Relationship, Flashbacks, Fluffy, Implied Sexual Content, Interrupted Almost Sex, Light Dom/sub, M/M, Oral Sex, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating May Change, S.T.A.R.S.
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-23
Updated: 2016-07-11
Packaged: 2018-07-16 20:15:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7283197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HolleringHawk65/pseuds/HolleringHawk65
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chris's relationship with Wesker might be a fleeting thing, but he's trying to make the most out of it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. "Albert"

**Author's Note:**

> Ah okay so I have no idea if this is going to be in the actual game verse or if it's just gonna be happy times featuring Chris and Wesker and canon will go out the window. We'll see!
> 
> Also I'm not happy with the anything but the first and last part of the chapter but oh well I've already spent like 4+ hours on this so enjoy!!! (Hopefully)

Chris was tucked under one of Wesker’s arm, a hand of his own splayed across his chest. His fingers softly twisted around his chest hair until they started to ache as pleasantly as the rest of his body. He closed his eyes for a minute, taking in the sensation of being. The solidness of Wesker next to him…

The smell of sex that coated the air…

The fact that there was still a trace of cologne on his lover while he was probably a wreck in every way imaginable, and the feel of the Egyptian cotton sheets below them and the plush blanket on top of them…

Chris had, surprisingly, found out that even though Wesker was a hard ass at work who was there for an unimaginable number of hours per week, he was just as human as the rest of them, and had certain comforts that he indulged in. His fingers twitched at the thought that he was, when it came down to it, just another indulgence, probably as fleeting to Wesker as the Chinese food they’d had for dinner had been to himself.

Wesker tapped Chris’s thigh, drawing his attention up to his face. “There’s something on your mind.”

Despite knowing how temporary he was, Chris loved being with Wesker, just because the man could always tell his moods. Though, that rarely ever made anything easier for him. “I was wondering, um. I mean, we’ve been together for a while and yet.” He paused, burying his face into Wesker’s chest for a moment. It was hard to believe that some people thought he was _smooth_ with the _ladies._ “I don’t know your first name.”

He hummed for a moment, running his fingers through Chris’s hair. “It’s Albert.” The admission was made in a soft voice, a whisper as if he wouldn’t have minded if Chris hadn’t heard it, which was the more than likely case.

Yet, Chris couldn’t help but smile; he was relatively sure that no one else in S.T.A.R.S. knew Wesker’s first name. He had now knew once of the most speculated about secrets in the group, and he knew it _first_. He reached up and pressed a kiss to his lover’s lips before settling back down against him.

\---

When Chris walked into the office one morning, everyone seemed to be giggling over something. He froze, mostly because he was almost sure that it was because of him, before Jill beckoned him over to her desk.

“We found out!” She was smiling broadly, but her face changed as Chris frowned. “We solved the great mystery of S.T.A.R.S.?”

“Oh?”

“Yeah-”

Richard pounced on Chris, leaning in to whisper into his ear, though he was so excited that it wasn’t really whispering. “We found out Wesker’s first name!”

Chris felt his stomach drop. It wasn’t because he wasn’t the only one to know it now, but the fact that _Wesker_ couldn’t have told them himself; he hadn’t mentioned doing it last night, and he hadn’t been in yet this morning because he wasn’t feeling well. “Guys, what did you do?”

They frowned. “Well, we figured that Wesker had to have a personnel file for himself,” Jill began, “and he keeps all of the files for Alpha team in the same drawer in his office. So, I picked the lock since he wasn’t here before I was, and looked at his name. I mean, he knows so much about _us_ , isn’t it fair that we know this about him?”

Chris twitched. “Wesker is a deeply private man, Jill. I’m sure he had his reasons for not telling us. For all we know, it’s the name of his abusive father that he doesn’t like to talk about.”

“Because he probably killed him?” Richard interjected.

Chris sighed. “Furthermore,” and internally cringed because he had to be spending too much time with Wesker if he was talking like _that_. “Furthermore, why the hell is everyone giggling?”

Jill rolled her eyes like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Because it’s _Albert_. I mean, can’t you imagine him standing in front of his mirror and fancying himself like Einstein?”

Actually, whenever he saw Wesker in front of a mirror, he seemed to stare into it as if the reflection was missing something, scrutinizing it like he would maps before a mission. Only if Chris came around and wrapped his arms around him did he seem to relax.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Jill tried to stifle a giggle of her own. “Plus, it’s _Albert_. It’s so nerdy. We expected something normal, like Derek or William or something along those lines.” Their eyes met and something came over Jill’s face. “Why are you being such a hard ass all of a sudden? It’s just his first name. All it is, is that we know his first name. He knows _all _of our names, and our job history, and where we’re from, and everything like that. I was just trying to even the playing field by a little.”__

“Why didn’t you just ask him? Why would you invade someone’s privacy like that? That’s what I’m pissed about!” He sighed. “Is that all you looked at in the personnel file?”

She gave him a steady look, not looking away from him. “I didn’t even need to take it out, it was on the top.”

Richard coughed. “Alright, now that that’s settled, we should probably get to work before the boss man shows up.”

Chris rubbed his face. “Yeah. Let’s try not to piss him off anymore than he’s already going to be.”

\---

Wesker didn’t show up for work that day, and Chris knew that it shouldn’t make him panic as much as it did. In his defense, he’d never seen Wesker with so much as a runny nose before now. But, it might’ve worked out for the best, because it prolonged him finding out that the whole squad knew his name, or at least that’s what Chris had hoped.

He figured that Wesker wouldn’t be in the mood for cooking, or dealing with the smells that always came with Chris’s cooking, so he picked up a neutral pizza and a few slices of the cheesecake that he liked.

When he walked into the apartment, the lights were almost all off, except for the line of Christmas lights that Chris had insisted on putting on the floor so he wouldn’t trip over something in the middle of the night. Despite their placement, he rarely used them once he discovered how sensitive Wesker was to light.

After putting the food on top of one of the counters, Chris tiptoed over to the bed, expecting to see Wesker in the bundle of blankets in the center of the bed, but it was empty. He frowned and looked around the open floor apartment, jumping when he saw Wesker appear in the doorway of the bathroom. He had to be pretty sick, considering he was shirtless in the middle of winter, and wearing a pair of Chris’s flannel pants instead of one of his own pajama pants.

“You told them.”

Chris had a sinking feeling in his gut. “Told who what?”

“ _You_ told all of S.T.A.R.S. _my_ first name. I would’ve changed the locks if my head wasn’t pounding so much.” As Chris came closer, he realized that Wesker was standing with his eyes closed.

He placed the back of a hand on Wesker’s forehead, flinching at the heat. “Do you want to go to the emergency room?”

“Don’t change the subject, Redfield.” It sounded like he was trying to be venomous, but he was trembling slightly, his voice raspy. “It’s my name, and you told them. I trusted you. You. Not them.”

Chris looped an arm around Wesker’s torso, leading him back into the bathroom and onto the toilet. “I didn’t tell them, Jill pick locked the personnel file drawer before I got there this morning.”

Wesker was silent as Chris got out the thermometer. His eyes were still closed, but he opened his mouth for Chris to slip it underneath his tongue.

“Holy shit, it’s 107, Wesker you need to go to a hospital.”

“ _No_. No hospitals.” His hand was wrapped around Chris’s wrist. “Please. Call-call Birkin. William or Annette.” His eyes looked like they shut themselves even tighter as he spasmed and curled over himself. “Fuck.”

Chris couldn’t believe that Wesker had been subjugating himself to this all day, alone. He wanted to yell at him, because for someone so damn smart, he seemed to be lacking basic common sense. “Okay, I’ll call them.”

Wesker kept his address folders in the drawer closest to the phone. The folders were alphabetically organized, so he was able to find the B one easily. There were few papers in here, and Birkin was close to the top. He dialed the home number and prayed these people would be home.”

“Hello, this is the Birkins’ house, Sherry speaking, how can I help you?”

“Hi Sherry, this is Chris Redfield. I’m a friend of, um, Albert Wesker, and he needs to see one of your parents?”

“Uncle Wesky! Is he okay? He never calls this late on a school night!”

“He’s not feeling too well, and asked for one of your parents.”

The little girl made a distressed noise. “Okay, I’ll get my mom for you.”

“Hello, this is Annette Birkin.” She sounded tired, like Wesker when he pulled off working 32 hours straight.

“Hi Mrs. Birkin. I’m Chris Redfield and I’m really sorry to call you at such a late time, but Wesker is- He’s not doing well right now, and he refuses to go to the hospital, so he told me to call you and I’ve never seen him sick before, much less with a 107 degree fever and-”

“I’ll be right over,” she said before hanging up.

\---

Chris managed to get Wesker to eat some sherbet and he put a cold compress on his forehead. He felt so helpless in comparison to when he used to take care of Claire.

The apartment door suddenly opened and a second later, a woman holding a medical bag appeared in the bathroom doorway. “Oh dear god Albert, you’re so stubborn.” She turned on the low lighting over the bathtub, causing Wesker to let out a low whine. She turned to Chris. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

He blinked at her, wanting to argue but he didn’t want to upset Wesker further. He closed the door on the way out.

A little girl was sitting at the counter, dressed in her pajamas, her winter coat hanging up on the tree next to the door. “Can I have some pizza? I ran out of soup and my mom was supposed to bring home pizza but she forgot.”

He’d almost forgotten about the box lying on the countertop. “Yeah, go ahead. You must be Sherry?”

“Yeah, and you’re Chris.” She got out two paper plates and set one in front of him. “Uncle Wesky’s gotten sick before. I was just a little kid when it happened, but I remember my parents freaking out. They kept me away from him because they thought he had meningitis or something.”

Chris sat on the stool next to Sherry. “Yeah? Do you remember what happened after that?”

“He was better the next morning,” she said as she took a bite of pizza. “I’ve always thought that he was magical.”

Chris thought about him for a moment as he had his first slice. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was until now, his concern for Wesker outweighing pretty much anything else. “Yeah, I’d say that he’s pretty magical, too.”

Sherry smiled at him before getting a fork for herself and one for Chris, to eat the cheesecake with, grinning as she opened the container. “I also know that this cake is pretty magical too.”

“You definitely have that right,” he said, smiling for the first time since that morning.

\---

Sherry slept on the couch while Chris washed the sweat soaked sheets and blankets, trying to not listen for any indication of what was going on behind the bathroom door.

\---

“Look, I’m beyond relieved that the fever broke, but you’re not going into work today.” Chris said. The Birkins had left sometime after he had finally crashed, but now it was nine o’clock and Wesker had the audacity to be dressed for work.

“I can't miss another day,” he explained. “How is it going to look if I’m not there the day after they find out that my first name?”

“You shouldn’t push yourself after yesterday. Please, just give everyone the weekend off. You can go back on Monday and do ‘damage control’, or whatever, but I refuse to stand here and let you work yourself to death.”

Chris was sure that Wesker’s eyes were boring into him from behind his sunglasses before he spoke. “Fine.”

Chris kissed him before taking off his coat and hanging it up. If somebody had told him three years ago that he’d be playing housewife to another man, he would’ve decked them. That aside, there was something about Wesker that made his first long term, same sex, relationship okay after having trouble dealing with his bisexuality.

Now, he just wanted to help Wesker.

“Do you want to talk about it? Your name?” Chris asked as Wesker booted up his computer to send out an email. Nobody would be at the office yet, since shifts didn’t start until 10.

Wesker sighed, but didn’t say anything until after the email was sent and Chris was attempting to make omelettes. “People used to tease me about it, since it was a rather well known fact that I consistently received grades that put me at the top of the class and that I would stay after some classes to have discussions with my teachers. I’ve heard a plethora of Einstein jokes, and it only let up in college when I went by my last name, and only some of my teachers would call me Albert, hardly ever in front of other students.”

Chris put Wesker’s omelette on a plate, thanking the stars above that it had turned out well. “So you’re assuming the worse of us?”

“Are you telling me that there weren’t Einstein jokes?” Wesker leaned against the counter, head tilted. “I’ll take your silence as an affirmative.”

“They’ll get over it.”

Wesker hummed as he came up behind Chris, helping him with the second omelette. “I’m sorry that I accused you of telling them.”

“Your fever was over ten degrees its normal. It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not. I know that you’re trustworthy, loyal. And maybe part of it was the fever, but I just…” He trailed off, buried his neck into one side of Chris’s.

_You’re just waiting for the other shoe to drop._

Chris turned around, cupping Wesker’s face. “Albert, I’m never going to betray your trust. I promise you that, on my sister’s life.”

He smiled before leaning forward to kiss Chris, moving him away from stove. “And I yours, my beloved Redfield.”


	2. "Birthdays"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wesker surprises Chris with the fact that his birthday is just over a week after Christmas. Chris might be suddenly overwhelmed with that, but he loves a challenge.

I thought that you should know that my birthday is January 3,” Wesker said after he had observed Chris for a moment, before settling down with a book, an unspoken sign that he was not to be disturbed unless it was an emergency.

Chris was wrapping some Christmas presents to send to Claire at school. _You’re just telling me this now?_ He’d been complaining about how hard it was to figure out gifts for people, and now he had to get another for Wesker? It was going to be _impossible_ ; the man never seemed to want for anything.

However, if there was one thing that Chris was good at, it was a challenge.

\---

“...so I’m fresh out of ideas for it.”

Jill raised an eyebrow. “Chris, not only did you get him a Christmas gift, but a birthday gift too? He’s your boss, not your boyfriend. How did you even find out? I know that you couldn’t have opened the file drawer.”

Chris blanched a little bit.

“Oh no. Chris. Are you - you’re? With _Wesker_?” She pulled him into the break room with a rare display of her strength. “Why on Earth didn’t you tell me sooner? Or _at all_?”

“You know how it looks,” he muttered. “Me, with my boss. It’s consensual, I swear. He didn’t pressure me into anything, it just kind of happened.” He closed his eyes, tried to stop a smile. “It’s so freaking calming to be around him, outside of work.”

“Oh, Chris. You have it pretty bad, don’t you?”

His eyes snapped open. “You can’t let him know that you know about any of it, though. That’ll be the end of us then and I don’t think - I mean I probably could - but I’d probably have to move to another state.”

She squeezed his hand. “I think that you’re too good of a catch for him to let you go like that. People have to find out about y’all eventually, right? Just don’t worry about it.”

He took a deep breath. “Yeah, I’ll try not to.”

\---

It was incredibly hard to not take note of Wesker’s book collection. It leaned towards tomes, with beautiful editions of classics sprinkled in. It was arranged by subject and then alphabetically by author; it was undeniably the most organized part of the apartment, which was saying something.

So when Wesker opened his Christmas gift of custom editions of R. M. Ballantyne’s _The Coral Island_ , William Golding’s _Lord of the Flies_ , and Daniel DeFoe’s _Robinson Crusoe_ , just staring at them for a moment before picking them up, and whispering, “Beautiful,” Chris knew he’d made the right choice.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t do the same thing for his birthday, because the binding of a book needed at least two months to be completed.

After Wesker had settled them back into the box, and set the box on the coffee table, he moved closer to Chris, cupping his face and kissing him and bringing him closer and-

Chris groaned, because he was straddling Wesker and that was probably his favorite position. Wesker’s hands settled onto his hips, thumbs dipping down below his waistband, teasing as their kisses became sloppier.

Wesker leaned up, his mouth right against Chris’s ear. “I want to fuck you into the couch, I want you to come all over yourself, sobbing my name.” He tugged Chris’s pajama pants and boxers down, before lubing his fingers with a tube that they kept in the couch’s end table. His fingers slipped into and-

The doorbell rang. Chris froze as Wesker put a clean finger to his lips. If they were quiet, maybe they’d go away.

“Uncle Wesky! Are you home?”

_Wesker put his forehead against Chris’s hip. “Scheisse.”_

Chris leaned over and placed a kiss on the top of Wesker’s head. “You go into the bathroom, I’ll let them in.”

It turned out that Sherry had taken a bus across town, on her own, to come see Wesker. She had smiled when she saw Chris, extending a present to him. “I figured that you’d still be here, so I got you something.”

Chris nearly choked on his apple cider at her flippancy about it.

Wesker came out a few minutes later, picking her up in one fell swoop. “Merry Christmas, Sherry-Berry.”

She laughed as he set her down. “I brought you a present!” She rummaged through her bag and brought out a box that was wrapped so nicely that Chris was a little bit envious of her skills.

He smiled at her. “I bought you one and I was going to swing by the house tomorrow, but since you took the initiative to come here yourself,” he walked over to the Christmas tree, picking up a present wrapped in glittery gold paper, “you deserve it today.”

She threw herself at Wesker, hugging him as tightly as she was capable of. “Thank you, Uncle Wesker.”

He hugged her back before letting go of her and kneeling down in front of her. “Have your parents been home today?”

She shrugged. “I have no idea and to be honest, I don’t care! I,” she sniffed back, wiped her eyes, “I’m fine on my own.”

Chris watched as Wesker wiped away more tears from her cheeks. “I know you are, but that’s not going to stop me from worrying about you. Now, why don’t we have some brunch?”

She nodded and tried to smile as the two walked into the kitchen area, where Chris tried to look like he hadn’t been watching them. “Do you have any fruit cake?”

“Of course! But that’s for after dinner,” he told her with a wink. When she pouted, Wesker laughed and Chris added, in a conspiratorial tone, “At the very earliest, three o’clock snack.”

Chris got a call from Claire as Wesker made some crab cakes and Sherry put together a Caesar salad, because apparently his life was being pampered by Wesker at home and being treated like he was the dunce while at work.

“Did you open my present yet?” Claire asked.

“No, not yet. Wesker and I got a little distracted.” He was sure that Claire could see his flush through the phone line. “And his goddaughter just came.”

“Oh no, don’t tell me that she walked in on you two doing the do!” Despite the potential severity of the situation, she was clearly trying to hold back giggles.

“No, she didn’t. Anyway, the crab cakes-”

“He made your favorite food?” She openly gasped, probably remembering his last boyfriend, who had thought, after five months together, that chili dogs were a wholesome dinner, not even considering the fact that Chris didn’t eat pork. “Chris! Keep him.”

He chuckled, earning a quick glance from Wesker. “That’s the hope. Anyway, I hope you have a good night, and don’t do anything crazy! I’ll try to call you Sunday, okay?”

“Me, act out? Never. Bye Chris, say hi to everyone for me! Love you.”

“Love you too, you daisy.” He hung up the phone and sighed, leaning against the wall for a moment as he watched Wesker and Sherry finished getting everything together. “Claire says hi.”

Wesker set the crab cakes on two plates -- one for them and one for Sherry -- and put those on tray tables before pulling Chris away from the wall, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “We should have her over sometime before she goes back to school.”

“She’s having fun with her friends. We’ll have time together when she’s fresh out of college and can’t find a job.”

He laughed before giving Chris another quick kiss. “C’mon, before they get cold.”

Wesker seemed unashamed to have Chris sit in his arms as they had dinner, Wesker alternately feeding him and himself. Sherry didn’t even remark on the gross romantic gestures adults do, but maybe that had to do with the fact that they were watching Frosty the Snowman.

After everyone finished eating, gifts were finally opened. Sherry’s gift was an American Girl doll, Kirsten Larson, who Sherry gasped at when she saw, before hugging Wesker (and, with the way they were sitting, Chris) again. “She’s just so perfect!”

Wesker’s gift from Sherry was five pounds of licorice allsorts, which was one of his favorite candies. She got Chris a large bar of Hershey’s, which he could see Wesker staring at, out of the corner of his eye. Claire got him an ‘ugly’ sweater, covered in stars. He knew he’d wear it, because it was already as cold as Hoth and he was pretty sure it was only going to get worse. All that was left was Chris’s gift from Wesker, which he handed to him.

The box wasn’t very big, which made Chris nervous. He had learned that the smaller the box was, typically the more expensive it turned out to be, where Wesker was concerned. He couldn’t imagine what it was, but when he opened it he gasped softly.

In the quiet of night, Wesker had briefly talked about getting him a collar. It had sounded weird to Chris, at first, but Wesker explained what it would mean to him. He said that it would show that they were in a committed relationship, even if Chris only wore it around the apartment.

Instead of a collar, a leather watch was sitting in the wooden box. Turquoise was on top of a silver watch face; the back of the time piece was engraved with _together_.

“It’s beautiful,” he whispered, as Wesker wrapped his arms around him and placed the watch on his left wrist.

“Ancient civilizations thought that turquoise would protect their warriors,” he told him, nuzzling his neck. Sherry wasn’t watching them at this point, more enraptured by her doll and the clothes Wesker had got for it.

Chris squeezed Wesker’s arms. At the back of his mind, he had occasionally wondered if their relationship was making Wesker more protective of and cautious with him, but this was the only substantial evidence he’d seen of it so far. “I love you, and the watch. It’s beautiful, thank you.”

“Anything for you,” he told him, voice soft, like he was afraid of admitting it.

Chris turned around, just to kiss Wesker. “Hey, you know I think the same thing for you, right?”

Wesker nodded. They stared at each other for a few minutes and it was one of the rare times that Wesker wasn’t wearing his sunglasses, so Chris could see his beautiful green eyes. They kissed again, a sweet, deep kiss that Chris could feel in his toes, before he resettled himself in Wesker’s arms, curling up for an afternoon nap.

\---

“Okay. Don’t be mad, please.”

Wesker’s eyebrows rose. It was his birthday, and Chris hadn’t made that much of a big deal out of it, except for morning sex and a quick breakfast in bed before heading into work to do some paperwork and then setting up his brilliant idea of a surprise party. He figured that he’d be a little off the hook for getting him a gift of everyone else in S.T.A.R.S. got him something.

They walked into a 50’s styled diner -- more likely, a diner from the 50’s -- that was Wesker’s favorite, and then everyone jumped out from behind the counter.

Wesker stumbled back before laughing. “Of course you would do something like this.” He pulled Chris closer by his star sweater, kissing him. Probably without thinking, because he suddenly dropped it.

Thankfully, Jill saved them by saying that there was free food for everyone.

Chris took a deep breath, waiting for someone to judge him, but no one did, and Wesker tugged him over to the buffet. The closeness between them, set by Wesker, seemed to be daring someone to say something, but either Jill had already told them to lessen the shock value, they had figured it out on their own, or they just didn’t care. And really, Chris realized he didn’t care, because now he wouldn’t have to hide his feelings all of the time now.

Surprisingly, the party went off without a hitch. Nobody decided to start a fist fight, Enrico and Wesker didn’t argue, and there were no absolutely terrible jokes (however, Jill had decided to buy a star for Wesker, though her card said he already had one, which caused Chris to blush and Wesker to squeeze his thigh). 

After the pineapple upside down cake was served, which revealed to everyone that Wesker had a weakness for sweets, Jill said that she would clean up so that the two could go home.

Wesker seemed tired, probably from the unnecessary exposure to people, so the two just took a shower together before curling up next to each other in bed.

“Thank you,” Wesker whispered, his lips grazing the side of Chris’s neck. “I think this was one of my most enjoyable birthdays.”

Chris squeezed one of Wesker’s hands. “I’m glad.”


	3. "Cupcakes"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chris has some issues and it causes a rift between him and Wesker. But, they have best friends looking out for their relationship, so that helps to get them back together again!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chris has some body image issues. I'm hesitant to call it an eating disorders, since this'll be one of the few, possibly only time, it's mentioned. It's really more of a reaction to stress, from my point of view. Let me know if you feel like I should tag it!

Wesker walked into an apartment smelling like freshly baked cakes. Cautious, he set his briefcase next to the door. It was a Sunday, so he’d gone into work to get some of his necessary paperwork done, while Chris slept in.

Or, Wesker had thought he slept in.

The kitchen was, in brief, a bit of a disaster area, with powdered sugar all over the counter and flecks of batter on the wall underneath the cabinets. Chris was leaning over something, and when Wesker came closer, he saw that it was cupcakes.

“Is there a party that I wasn’t aware about?” he asked as he wrapped his arms around Chris, settling his chin on his shoulder.

Chris sighed, setting down the piping bag. “No, but I thought that you might be, well, mad at me. Because of the mission.”

Wesker tensed slightly, instinctively, before pressing his face into the side of Chris’s neck, taking a deep breath. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you.”

Radio transmissions had gotten blocked and Chris, in his impatience, had gone into the warehouse in the middle of Wesker negotiating for a hostage and had nearly gotten shot. Actually, had gotten shot, but it had just grazed his arm. There was a rip in that shirt now and Wesker flinched when he saw it.

They’d had a fight, one that had ended with Chris sleeping on the couch until Wesker had switched their positions, since he knew that Chris would wake up sore. They’d slept like that for the rest of the week, and the only thing Wesker could think about this morning was slowly, slowly taking Chris.

“I was stupid,” Chris replied, looking at him. “I’m sorry.”

 _You’re alive, and that’s all I care about_. “Clearly,” he said, picking up a cupcake. “Whipped chocolate buttercream with a; I’m not actually sure what this cake is.”

“Strawberry cake. They looked good at the store this morning.”

Wesker kissed his neck before pulling away. “They look absolutely delicious.”

Chris blushed. It wasn’t hard to figure out that he got flustered when praised for his more domestic qualities, especially his baking skills. The praise was deserved though and Wesker thought that the pink tinge was beautiful on his tan skin.

Wesker sat at the counter, watching Chris as he finished working. It was soothing, watching him in his methodical pattern.

After the icing was done, Chris cleaned the kitchen up. Normally, Wesker would offer to help, but he was enjoying just watching him, and Chris didn’t seem like he needed, or wanted, any help in the first place.

Eventually, Chris sat next to Wesker, setting a cupcake in front of him. “I have a good feeling about these.” He said it as if his baking didn’t always give Wesker a mouth orgasm.

Wesker gave him a quick kiss before using a fork to take a bite out of the cupcake. As anticipated, it was perfect by his standards. The cupcake was moist from the mashed strawberries within the batter without being too much like a liquid. The cupcake didn’t melt right away in his mouth, but it was definitely not a brick in it, either. The icing was perfect, one of his favorites because it wasn’t too dense or overtly sugary. When he swallows the bite and took a sip of milk, he kissed Chris again. “I wouldn’t be mad at you if you quit S.T.A.R.S. and opened a bakery.”

Chris laughed as he watched Wesker put more on the cupcake before falling silent as Wesker held it out for him. He could feel his cheeks flush as Wesker waited for him to take the bite. “I can’t.”

He put the fork down, frowning. “Did something happen?”

He looked down, sure that his ears were a dark pink at this point. “I gained weight. Um. Five pounds, actually.”

“Muscle does weigh more than fat,” Wesker reminded him, clearly trying to soothe him. Chris was obsessed weighing himself, doing it every week. When Wesker realized how bad it was, he got rid of his scale, but Chris just used the one at the police department now.

“It’s pretty clear that it’s my stomach that’s starting to go soft.”

“I’ll always think that you’re beautiful.”

Chris sighed. “Do you realize that not everything is about us? I couldn’t give less than a crap about how you think of my looks! I don’t even know why I baked these stupid cupcakes when you’re going to dump me the moment someone better comes along. Have you ever-”

“Chris-”

He stood up. “No, this is my time to talk. Did you even consider that, maybe, I’m worried about how the extra five pounds is going to affect my job? So no, I’m not eating any of the damn cupcake.” He was across the room but by the time that he said this, he was already picking up his coat. “I’ll be back later.”

\---

Unsurprisingly, Wesker didn’t see Chris until work the next day, when Wesker plopped down a brown paper bag on his desk. “Lunch,” he explained.

For a second, it seemed like everyone in the office was staring at them. He wondered if Chris had already talked to Jill about it -- he must’ve, because he had to have gone to her apartment because he left his wallet at theirs -- and if she had spread the gossip around to the rest of Alpha team.

Chris pushed the bag away. “No thanks.”

Wesker pushed it back to him. “You’re eating if I have to cram it down your throat.” His voice was low, so it was unlikely anyone else heard what he said, but it wasn’t like they could do anything about it if they had.

Chris looked at him in the eyes, right through his sunglasses. “Isn’t this workplace harassment?”

That was loud enough for everyone else to hear.

He gaped at him before snatching the bag off of the desk. “Chris, I was just trying to help you. But fine, by all means continue acting like an ill informed _child_. Don’t expect me at the apartment tonight.”

Wesker wasn’t sure if he was happy or not that Chris flinched.

\---

“He accused _me_ of workplace harassment! _Me_! When he was the one to first pursue this relationship.”

Annette sighed. It was Birkin Family Movie Night, since Sherry had already decided she wouldn’t be going to school tomorrow, so she might as well stay up anyway. Typically, “Birkin Family” meant “sans Wesker,” but he seemed to distressed to be by himself.

“Well, what was even in the lunch bag?”

“Granola, leftover strawberries, cheese, and” he took a deep breath, “ _carrot sticks_.”

She couldn’t help but laugh. It was a common fact in their family that Wesker _hated_ carrots, because people used to tell them they would help his eyes’ light sensitivity when he was younger. Of course, he had gone overboard with carrots, eating some form of them with every meal, and had developed a dislike for them, especially when they hadn’t helped in the slightest. She remembered getting the call from him while at the lab, when he found out Chris’s favorite vegetable is carrots and that he considered that a possible deal breaker.

“It’s not funny, he didn’t even open it.” He rubbed his face. “I don’t even know how we got to this point.”

“You probably did your typical ‘I’m going to protect the other, _clearly_ incapable, and weaker part of my relationship, without explaining to them that my parents died when I was young and have clearly been traumatized by this event. I also have internalized patriarchal ideals and therefore feel the need to treat my boyfriend more like a girlfriend’ thing.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Wesker snapped.

“You live together? He bakes for you and you cool for him? You sleep in the same bed? He threw you a surprise birthday diner dinner party thing? And you got him that watch, because you’re a sentimental,” she paused, clearly trying to search for the right words. “A sentimental, emotionally constipated, occasional asshole.”

He just nodded in reply as Sherry and came in with the candy and William came in with the popcorn. He picked up a package that Sherry was holding and miserably said: “Twizzlers are Chris’s favorite candy.”

\---

Chris stared at the cupcakes in the fridge. He was going to bring the remaining ones into work tomorrow, but there was more than enough for everyone to have one. It was all their fault that he and Wesker had argued, but then again, he had made them so it was just as much of his fault, too.

They did look good, he had to admit. He reached out for one, then mentally slapped himself. The whole point of the argument was that he wouldn’t eat it.

He curled up on the couch, burying his face into Wesker’s pillow.

\---

Chris wasn’t at work. Wesker kept looking outside of his office to see if he had appeared, but he hadn’t by lunch. He was considering the pros and cons of going to the apartment to check on him, just to make sure he hadn’t done anything stupid, when Jill came in. She looked uncomfortable, but she sat down in the chair opposite of Wesker’s anyway.

“Valentine?”

“I checked on him during my lunch break. He’s just sick. Arguably, lovesick, but hey, I’m not judging.”

He wanted to say that, yes, she was judging, because she was giving him her judging look, and he was sure that she was taking notes in her head.

She picked up a paperweight off of his desk, finally looking away from him. “It’s not really any of my business, I know that, but I just wanted to let you know that, after I found out you were together, I realized that it’s probably the happiest I’ve seen Chris since we started working here. Barry confirmed that it’s the best Chris has been since the air force. And, if I’m being honest, you’ve actually been a lot more bearable. I think that Chris being in a relationship like this, he’s waiting for the other shoe to drop, and it’s possible he’s subconsciously causing it to happen. So, please don’t be upset with him. Please.” She got up and stretched out. “Anyway, see you later I guess.”

Wesker didn’t say anything as she walked out, just leaned back in his chair and sighed.

\---

Chris had forced himself to have some applesauce, even though his stomach was reeling and his head was pounding. He wondered if it was possible for him to have caught whatever made Wesker so sick all those weeks ago. But, he was more cold than feverish, so he wasn’t especially worried. He’d go to the doctor’s tomorrow if he still wasn’t feeling well.

The door opened and he felt a rush of relief run through him as he sat up and saw that it was Wesker. Of course, he looked incredibly concerned as he walked over to Chris, checking his temperature with the back of his hand before scooping him up on the couch. He set him down on the bed before going into the kitchen. Chris watched him make two sandwiches before coming back. He set the plates down on the bed, remaining silent as he disappeared to take a shower.

Chris picked up a plate, eating about half of the sandwich before his stomach protested. He moved the plates over to the nightstand before laying down again.

\---

Wesker came out of the shower to find Chris asleep. He looked peaceful, underneath a multitude of their blankets.

He stood there for a moment, taking in the sight, before realizing that Chris had eaten some of his sandwich.

Wesker would take it as a victory.

He had his own sandwich before sliding into bed with Chris, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend.

\---

“I’m sorry,” Chris whispered when Wesker woke up. His head was against his chest, Wesker’s fingers in his hair.

“It’s okay, I messed up too.” Wesker took a deep breath before continuing. “But that’s what a relationship is, okay?”

He fisted his shirt, looking up at him. He could just make out Wesker’s face in the low lighting of the city outside. “Relationship?” He meant it teasingly, but at the same time, they never really had talked about this before.

Wesker ran his fingers out of his hair, down to the watch that Chris always wore now. “‘Together;’ I meant it.”

They kissed slowly, a kiss perfect for the hours right before dawn.

“I missed you,” they said in unison, before kissing again, smiling at each other. 

_I never want to be apart from you like that ever again._


	4. "Dogs"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chris and Wesker might be ready for the next stage in their relationship. "Might be" should, however, be noted to be the key term.

Wesker was pretty sure that everyone could hear Chris’s gasp when the new dogs for the R.C.P.D.’s K-9 unit walked by S.T.A.R.S.’ offices. A minute later, Chris was sitting on his desk, smiling.

“We’re not getting a K-9 unit,” he said, not even looking it up. “We’re lucky that we’re allowed to use the shooting range for training.”

“Are you telling me that we’re broke? Because I hear that Barry makes a mean brownie, so we could throw a bake sale.”

Wesker reached up and quickly kissed him. “We could just sell your cupcakes, and then we’d be set for ten years.”

Chris laughed and blushed a little. “Sure, why not? But I didn’t come in here to talk about S.T.A.R.S. getting a K-9 unit.”

He set his pen down and looked up at Chris. “You didn’t? What else you could possibly want?”

“A dog. For us, I mean. I figured, since we’re a thing, and we already live together, that maybe we should get a dog? Like a rescue, not a puppy. A dog whose life we could make a little bit happier. And if we ever have to go away for a day or something, we could pay the teenager who lives down the hall to stay with the dog for an hour or two a day. And no one is allergic to dogs, we could bring the dog in during our shifts, like an Alpha Team Mascot!”

Wesker was silent for a moment. “I, ah. I’m allergic to dogs.”

“Oh.” Wesker was already looking at his paperwork again, while Chris stared at him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I figured that it wasn’t relevant to the place that we’re at in our relationship.”

“You know that I love dogs. I thought you that you at least liked them. You smile whenever you see one, even that chihuahua from Hell comes after you.” The chihuahua was memorable because it was the only time anyone had seen something draw blood from Wesker.

“I do like them. I just can’t be around them.”

“How bad is your allergy? Do you think that you could have a hypoallergenic dog? Poodles are cool, I hear. Claire’s neighbor has one and she’s absolutely in love with it.”

He sighed. “You should probably get back to work. Please.”

Chris nodded before leaning down and kissing Wesker’s forehead. “See you at lunch.”

\---

“On a side note, on a scale of one to ten, how allergic are you to dogs?” Chris asked, his eyes firmly focused on the menu, even though he always got the same thing when they came to the diner.

Wesker made a neutral grunt type of noise. “Chris.”

He sighed, looking over at his boyfriend. “What? Do you want to sue me for asking? You’re my _partner_ , I should know these types of things. I mean, did a dog traumatize you when you were a little boy or something? I just don’t get you sometimes!” 

“No, there wasn’t anything traumatizing involving a young me and a dog. I just.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I’m not sure if we’re ready for this.”

Chris bit the inside of his lip. It was a reasonable thing to say, not to mention that he was probably _right_. Who had he been kidding, aside from himself? Sure, all of S.T.A.R.S. knew that he was Wesker’s boyfriend now, but people broke up, and the next thing he knew, he’d probably be crashing on Jill’s couch. So, he remained silent until the waitress came over to them.

\---

“I thought that he was broken for a few minutes,” Wesker said, holding his face in his hands as he talked to Annette. “He was _completely_ silent.”

“Maybe he really had his heart set on getting a dog with you.” She leaned forward slightly. “I mean, Al, it’s not like the two of you can have kids together.”

He froze. “Do you think that he would’ve wanted that at this point? If one of us had been a girl?”

She took a sip of her coffee. “I don’t think that there’s any way of really knowing that and asking him would be irrelevant.”

He rubbed his hands. “Your heating is on the fritz,” he pointed out, prompting her to simply sigh. “What, so you think I should just cave in and we should get a dog?”

“I don’t think that you should shut the door on it so quickly. It’s clear that the two of you care a lot for each other, and I, as a terrible mother, feel like you would be great dog parents.”

He chuckled before taking another sip of his own cup of coffee. “If you were home a little more…”

“I know, I know, but William needs me at the lab. And when William needs me, it’s not like he can be home with Sherry himself.” 

“William and his lab,” he said bitterly. “If you ever need me to watch Sherry, you know that I’m more than willing. Afterall, she and Chris get along famously.” He smiled before checking his watch. “I hope that Chris isn’t going to be upset when I get home.”

She reached out and squeezed his hand. “The two of you are going to be fine, you always are. Now, get a move on it before I sicc Sherry on you and you never get to leave.”

He laughed, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek. “Take care, Annette.”

Her smile seemed lackluster as it appeared. “You too, Al.”

\---

Chris was half asleep on the couch, _again_ , when Wesker walked. He looked up, eyes barely keeping themselves open. He’d woken up at 4:30 this morning, from some kind of nightmare, he’d gathered at least, and hadn’t gone back to sleep before going to work. Sheepish, he smiled at him, holding his arms out. Wesker came up to him and suddenly Chris was clinging to him like a koala bear.

Wesker held him, kissing his forehead and his hair, before taking him over to the bed. “Dinner in bed?”

“Only if the dinner is you,” Chris replied. Silence hung in the air for a moment before the two burst out laughing.

“How long have you had that one up your sleeve?” Wesker was smiling as he asked him.

“A few days,” he admitted, pulling him closer. “I have to admit, I feel like it’s one of my better lines.”

“Probably.” He rolled over, bring Chris with him. They kissed sloppily for a few moments, both content to just touch. Chris had already taken a shower, in his flannel pants and a sweatshirt. It was what he wore when he was sleepy and just wanted to relax.

Wesker could get behind that train of thought.

\---

Chris was, surprisingly, the tea drinker of the pair. Since Wesker typically woke up before him, he tried to have a cup ready by the time that he was out of the shower. But, he woke up to the smell of the coffee pot and the whistle of the kettle.

He stretched out for a few moments, enjoying the sunlight that was hitting his skin, before the bed dipped down as Chris straddled him, leaning over and kissing him. “I wish that we didn’t have to go to work,” he whispered, his mouth right next to Wesker’s ear.

Wesker nipped at one of Chris’s ears. “But, we do.” His hands trailed down, slipping underneath of Chris’s pajama pants. “You have taken a shower yet?”

He nuzzled Wesker’s neck. “I was kind of hoping that we could take one, maybe, together.”

Wesker laughed. “After how many months together, I would have thought you’d grow out of blushing about asking me to take a shower with you.”

He buried his face into Wesker’s neck as he sat up and got them off of the bed. “You know, you’re one to talk.”

“Oh?”

“Because you should’ve seen your face when I brought up getting a dog.”

“That’s completely different.”

“Is it? Is it really?”

Wesker set him on the bathroom counter. “Completely.”

Chris rolled his eyes.

He took a deep breath. “You have to realize that it’s a big commitment. We’d be taking in another living, breathing, creature. It’s not something that one takes in to consideration lightly.”

“So you have thought about it.”

“Of course I’ve _thought_ about it. I know that this was important to you, so I did think it over and I thought that we could talk about it some more.”

Chris burst into a smile before tugging Wesker closer to him. In between kisses, he whispered: “Thank you.”

“Nothing’s been done yet,” he teased, kissing Chris on the nose before helping him get undressed and taking him into the shower stall.

\---

Oh, who had he been kidding but himself?

They had decided to leave early on Friday to go to the local shelter and see if there were even any hypoallergenic dogs there to begin with. And, of course, there was a beautiful standard poodle that Chris gasped at and leaned against the wire like a five year old.

Wesker slung his arm around Chris’s waist just to make sure that people didn’t think he was his father.

“She is beautiful,” Wesker commented. Honestly, if he didn’t have to take allergy pills everyday, he’d find a way to live with whatever Chris chose. Though, there was something about this dog that felt like she was drawing them to her.

An attendant came up. “Would you like to meet her?” the young lady asked.

It probably sounded awful, but Wesker didn’t trust Chris not to talk at the speed of lightning, so he simply said: “Yes, please.”

And that’s how the two ended up in a small room, away from the other dogs, with Chris on the floor with Nyx as Wesker filled out the forms. The thought had crossed his mind that if, _if_ , they ever broke up, he technically owned Nyx, but it didn’t matter because they _weren’t_ going to break up.

At the very least, that wasn’t going to be for a few weeks.

\---

“Okay, so we have dog food,” which was $30 a bag, “a cute collar,” it was very pink, “a leash,” matching, so very pink, “a brush,” though they would have to take her to the groomers’ every month, at least, “a set of dog bowls,” one with a black bottom and one with a blue bottom to distinguish between the food bowl and the water bowl, respectively, “toys,” so, so many squeaking toys. But, there were some bones and a Kong, too, so Wesker figured he probably wasn’t going to be too annoyed. “And we have treats.” They’d gone to a dog bakery that was adjacent to the pet store. It had seemed a little ridiculous to Wesker, but there were worse things than a bakery dedicated to dogs (such as: a florist dedicated to cats). 

“And a dog bed,” Wesker reminded him. He’d insisted on it, so he could at least try to preserve his leather couch. “Toe nail clippers, nail fixer, plus the multitude of preventative medicine.” Most of that she wouldn’t even need until next month. 

Chris closed the trunk of his car. “I think we’re good.”

Wesker’s eyebrows rose. “You think? I think we’ve covered good.” He leaned in and gave him a quick kiss before pushing him, and subsequently Nyx, towards the doors of the car before returning the cart.

When he sat down in the driver’s seat, Chris reached over and squeezed his hand. “Thanks, again. I really appreciate that you’re doing this,” he accentuated this with a kiss on the nose. “And, obviously, if your allergies _ever_ start acting up, I want you to tell me, okay?”

He nodded. “Communication is key.”

He shook his head before raising his left wrist. “ _Together_ , Wesker. Doing this together is key. Communication is just a part of that.”

Wesker smiled as he put the car into drive. “You know, sometimes you are right.”

Chris swat him on the arm. “Thanks for that. You know that I’m right quite a bit of the time.”

They were at a stop light, so Wesker had no qualms about leaning over the console and kissing Chris like his life depended on it. “Yeah, I do know that.”


	5. "Embrasse-Moi"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So a certain sister comes to Raccoon City and there's some smut after a nice supper kind of thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think that I'm really bad at smut but I guess if I don't try to get better I'll never get better? But anyway, enjoy I guess lol

“Breakfast in bed?” Chris smiled as Wesker brought the tray over. There were omelettes with cheese and tomato, sausage links, a fruit salad, a cup of coffee, another of tea, and two glasses of milk. “You’re spoiling me, what’s the occasion?”

Wesker nuzzled his neck. “We survived a month with Nyx.” ‘Surviving’ might not be the right word, because, while she was high energy, she had one of the sweetest natures that Wesker had ever seen in a dog. “I thought that it was an occasion worth celebrating.”

Chris hummed as he pressed up closer to Wesker so that the tray would fit over both of their laps. “Well, anything that gets me one of your omelettes is worth celebrating, in my book.” Wesker could only laugh.

\---

They had to go into the office for at least a couple of hours, so after they took a shower, they leashed up Nyx and walked over. At this point, they just walked in together and none of their coworkers batted an eyelash. They seemed to just be happy that Wesker was a little more lax with work hours and that he and Chris got into fewer arguments these days. Plus, Nyx _did_ make a could mascot for S.T.A.R.S., with her new collar and leash being a dark purple with embroidered yellow stars; Chris and Wesker had both agreed that the previous, very pink, collar and leash just weren’t cutting it for them when it was rubbing at her throat.

“You two are in a good mood,” Jill remarked as she ate a salad while sitting on her desk. “Is Claire coming into town?”

Wesker visibly blanched. He had yet to meet the other Redfield and the only time he’d spoken to her is when she called and he had to hand the phone off to Chris. Of course, he’d be supportive if Chris wanted her to come, because she was a huge part of his life, but he needed time to prepare himself for that.

Chris chuckled, not noticing Wesker’s expression or the fact that Jill had looked at it for a solid five seconds. “No, it’s just that it’s already been four weeks since we got Nyx! Isn’t that amazing? Time just flies by. Before we know it, the day will come when all of the snow will be gone and there’ll be flowers everywhere and birds in the air.”

Jill patted Chris’s shoulder. “Soon, but today is not that day,” she teased.

He rolled his eyes. “Anyway, we should leave you to your _salad_ ,” because even though he was in his 20’s, Chris still hated naturally green food, “and get to work.”

As he walked off to his desk, Wesker gave Jill a small smile before unhooking the leash from Nyx’s collar and going into his office. Not that the two knew it, but the rest of S.T.A.R.S. had a pool going about when Chris would just move into Wesker’s office; it seemed like his desk was inching towards it, anyway.

The two hours that they had to be there seemed to drag until fifteen minutes before they were due to leave. A commotion started going on outside of their offices, drawing everyone’s attention. Well, everyone’s except Wesker’s. It was impossible to tell if he could hear anything outside of his office.

“I’ll go check it out,” Forest said, standing up. It was probably just officers bickering about doughnuts or something, but it wouldn’t hurt to check.

Everyone waited with bated breath. When Forest came back, he looked a little flushed. “It’s, ah. It’s nothing.”

“That doesn’t sound too convincing,” Jill teased. “What’s got you so riled up?”

He cleared his throat. “Apparently, a couple was having a fight, and one threw a vase at the other, so a neighbor called the police, and now.” He was blushing like crazy. “They were kind of at each other, like, kissing and stuff.”

“That’s it? We see people kiss all of the time,” she continued on, poking him in the shoulder.

“The couple was two women.”

She dropped her hands. “Oh.”

Chris could practically feel the eyes on him. He and Wesker didn’t make a point to hide that they were in a relationship anymore; all of them were more or less friends, after all. He wondered why they were staring at him; was it because he didn’t seem interested in women? Because he and Wesker were practically the opposite of that?

The door to the office opened again, causing everyone to look up because, for once, they were all there at the same time. It wouldn’t be surprising if it were Kevin or another R.C.P.D. officer, but it wasn’t.

Of course it wasn’t.

“Oh my god,” the woman said, coming up to Chris and slapping him. “I’m an aunt and you didn’t tell me!”

After the rest of S.T.A.R.S. gasped, he just smiled, got up, and hugged her. “It’s good to see you too, Claire.”

\---

Chris was going to admit that Claire coming kind of threw a wrench in his plans for the rest of the day, considering he’d been planning on finally having the Discussion with Wesker about maybe trying out something a little kinkier than they had previously been doing, but the night looked better when Claire told them that she was staying at a hotel, giving Chris and a wink and a nudge after she did.

“So, what’s good to eat around here?” she asked them after Chris joined them, having had Forest ask him if she was available and having to explain that if he really wanted to go down that route, he’d have to be prepared to deal with Chris being an overprotective big brother.

“ _Not_ the diner,” Chris teased, bumping Wesker. They had gone there _three times_ already that week. Sure, it was good food, but there were only so many flavors. He preferred Wesker’s cooking anyway.

They were holding hands as they were walking, Claire holding Nyx’s leash as a light snow started to fall. “Well, there’s always that Italian place,” Wesker pointed out, squeezing his boyfriend’s hand as he did.

“No! I’m convinced they purposefully tried to give me food poisoning.”

“The Chinese place on Fifth?”

He snorted. “You hate Chinese food. Thai?”

He smiled. “Claire, how do you feel about that?”

“Oh, I absolutely love Thai, but I’m thinking that we should just eat something light. Like maybe a salad or a soup.” She winked at Chris again and he instantly felt the blush rise. She was the more outgoing of the two, so she knew everything about _that kind of stuff_ and while they hadn’t spoken out right about the undertones of his relationship, she had guessed them.

“There is that place on Seventh that allows dogs inside,” he mused. “Chris?”

“Yeah, that works.” He really just wanted to go home and pounce on Wesker, and if saying yes to salad or soup got him to that point, he was more than obliging.

\---

If he was being honest, he was more than a little overwhelmed by the multitude of choices on the menu. So, he excused himself and Nyx to a corner booth and let the other two pick for him. Between the two of them, they could figure out something that he would eat.

A few minutes later, Wesker showed up with a trio of smoothies, setting a pink one in front of Chris. “Peaches, strawberries, and banana. I think that you’ll like it.”

He nodded as he took a sip. “What did you get me to eat?”

“Chicken Caesar,” he pronounced it _ki-zahr_

, “salad, no dressing, extra cheese, and light croutons, with a side of ravioli.”

“You know me so well. What did you get?”

Wesker glanced around before leaning in and kissing him. “We’re sharing,” he whispered. His tone made Chris shudder; it probably didn’t help that he ran a hand through Chris’s hair and down his back, right as Claire came with a tray of their food.

“Aren’t people going to stare?” Chris whispered. He wasn’t as worried about Claire; he wouldn’t be surprised to find out that this had all been _her_ idea.

His boyfriend looked around again as he cut up the raviolis. “It’s a corner booth, nobody is going to be looking our way. Even if they were, I don’t care, as long as you’re comfortable. You can always tell me to stop, if need be.”

He slowly nodded as he watched Wesker spear a third of a ravioli before he brought it up to Chris’s lips.

\---

Between the food and the cozy setting of the restaurant, Chris appeared to be beyond sleepy. He leaned against Wesker as they walked home. Claire was going to her hotel and she would meet up with Chris the next day, since it would be his day off.

Basically, Wesker had Chris all to himself for the next eighteen hours and he planned to use them effectively, especially since, after the first few initial bites, he had seemed to have completely relaxed in the restaurant. He walked Nyx while Chris headed up to the apartment to get an early dinner ready for her.

When the two got upstairs, Chris was sitting rather demurely on the couch, looking equal parts expectant.

The way that Chris’s youth would randomly show up was surely going to be the death of him, eventually. After he took off his various layers of winter clothes, Wesker unhooked Nyx’s leash, hanging it up before he walked over to the couch, sitting down right next to Chris. They were so close that Wesker could swear that he felt Chris’s heartbeat.

“Embrasse-moi.”

For a second, Chris looked confused, before it clicked in his head. The two had gone to a foreign film theater a while ago and had watched a French film with subtitles. He moved forward to kiss Wesker, twisting his hand in Wesker’s shirt as he pulled Chris closer so that he was straddling his thighs. He ended the kiss by tugging on Chris’s hair, tilting it so that his throat was exposed. He leaned in, sucking on his neck. With this hellish cold, it wouldn’t be unusual for Chris to wear a scarf, anyway.

Chris whimpered, but didn’t move to push Wesker away; in fact, he seemed to be guiding him closer, his hands on the back of Wesker’s neck. He was picked up in the next morning, carried over to right next to the bed.

Wesker pulled his t-shirt up, thumbs tracing scars that littered his skin from his pre-S.T.A.R.S. days.

Wesker’s attentiveness was part of the reason that Chris liked to have sex at night, with the lights off, or in the morning, when Wesker was too sleepy to do much more than moving his hips. But, Chris knew that this was something he liked to do, and it wasn’t like it was hurting him, so he just let it go. He figured he’d get bored in a moment and move on.

He just had to be proven wrong. In the next second, Wesker leaned down and nuzzled one, placing a kiss at the end of it. It made Chris shudder; he hadn’t ever really realized that they were sensitive.

It was impossible to miss the way that Wesker grinned before he continued with his ministrations. By the time that he got to the top of his jeans, Chris was shaking slightly, fingers threaded through Wesker’s hair.

“I wonder if the scars on your thighs are even more sensitive,” Wesker mused, his hands on Chris’s hips. “I’d imagine so.”

He whined. “C’mon, babe. I thought I was going to be worshipping _your_ body tonight.”

Wesker chuckled. “I think that you need this a little more than I do.”

“You think that I _need_ sexual attention?” Chris had an eyebrow raised and sounded unconvinced. “We fuck like, every other day, _at least_.”

Wesker sighed, his forehead against Chris’s hip. “Fucking is a little different from what I have in mind.”

He huffed. “So’s what I wanted to do.”

Normally, they were fine with rolling with where the night took them, but Wesker was curious because Chris honestly sounded frustrated that it wasn’t going like how he had imagined it going. “What was that?”

He shifted, glancing down at Wesker. “I. I kind of wanted you to end up bossing me around a little.”

He tried not to laugh. “What, just so that you could ignore my orders? We do that at work.” Tell him to kiss him had been one thing, but that had been more of a kickstarter than a theme.

“Thought it might be different when it came to sex,” he muttered.

Wesker stood up. “It probably would be, but I’m not sure you’d like that as much as you like the idea of it. Can you just let me take care of you tonight, the way I want to?” His fingers were resting just under the waistband of Chris’s pants, their foreheads touching now.

“God, yes, _please_.”

Wesker smiled, kissing him slowly and thoroughly before finally undoing Chris’s jeans, pulling them down. There was a wet patch on his boxers and Wesker couldn’t help but smile because of it. There wasn’t much that he liked more than pleasing Chris when it came to things outside of work.

“ _Babe_ ,” Chris whined.

He eased off the rest of Chris’s clothing before quickly taking off his own clothing. The apartment wasn’t exactly warm, but he quickly had them on the bed, Chris sprawled out underneath of him. He grabbed the lube off of the nightstand, watching as undeniable relief came over Chris’s face.

He started out with one finger, a departure from his usual. Chris was quickly trying to buck up against it, but Wesker stilled him with his free hand. “My way,” he reminded him as he kissed him and added a second finger.

Chris hummed. “Your way is going to take forever, isn’t it?”

He brushed against Chris’s prostate, causing him to gasp. “It’s going to be satisfying though, darling.”

He closed his eyes and nodded right before Wesker added a third finger. Typically, this would be all that Chris needed, but he decided to go the extra mile and add a fourth before leaning down and taking Chris’s cock in his mouth, alternately sucking and lapping at the head.

“Oh my _god_ , babe, c’mon, I’m going to cum and then where’ll you be?”

He pulled off and nuzzled it for a moment, licking in random places. “Very pleased with myself. In any case, you typically have a short refractory period. We can take a shower and go another round.”

Chris let out a strained laugh. “Of course you’d have a plan.” He let out a moan as Wesker took him in again and his fingers were more deliberate in brushing up against his prostate.

“I’m offended you can still form coherent thoughts,” he admitted, teasing.

In response, Chris moaned again and arched off of the bed, one hand tugging on his own hair and the other keeping his balance. A second later, Wesker tasted the familiar saltiness of Chris’s come, taking it all down and licking his boyfriend’s softening cock. He waited a couple of minutes to carefully remove his fingers before sitting up.

“Are you alright?” he asked, considering Chris still hadn’t said anything.

He nodded, staring up at the ceiling. “Are you?” He propped himself up on his elbows. “That looks kind of painful.”

Wesker leaned down to kiss Chris. “Your satisfaction is more important to me.”

“Well, considered me satisfied.” They kissed for a few more minutes before Wesker got them off of the bed and into the bathroom.

As the water heated up, they bumped noses. “I love you,” Chris reminded him.

“Love you, too,” he whispered before he took Chris’s watch off. It warmed his heart, more than he liked to admit, that he actually wore it every day.

Chris pulled him out of his reverie by tugging on his hand and bringing him into a shower. “I’ve known that since the first time we kissed,” he whispered a few minutes later as Wesker was shampooing his hair.

_Yeah, me too,_ he wanted to say, but thought that it might sound too weighted. Instead, he simply kissed him again.


	6. "Fluidity"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Starts with a flashback, ends with some current fluffy moments.

If Chris was being honest, Wesker was almost worse than his superiors at the air force. Almost. Quite possible the only pro for him at the moment was that he found out that Chris was into guys and hadn’t tried to have sex with him. He had just walked right out of the bar after catching Chris making out with someone in a dark corner.

That being said, Chris wasn’t sure how today was going to pan out at work. It could, really, go one of two ways. The first was that Wesker calmly asked him to come into his office and he would fire him -- surely, he could find a reason to fire Chris not based on his sexual preferences. The second was that he would ask Chris to come into the office and then he would try to have sex with Chris so that he wouldn’t tell anyone.

He thought about calling in and saying that he wasn’t feeling well, but that was a coward’s way out. So, he dressed a little more professionally than usual, because if he was going to get kicked out on his ass he might as well look his best.

When he walked into the offices, Jill and Forest whistled from the water cooler.

“Do you have a hot date tonight?” she asked him. “Honestly, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you look this good before.”

“Thanks.” His voice was dry and it would be clear to everyone that he was irritated. Well, it was more like on edge, but no one was commenting on it yet.

She frowned. “Are you okay? Is Claire alright?”

He tugged on the cuffs of his sleeves. “Yeah, everything’s fine. Just not feeling too hot so I figured I’d dress well.”

“Well, if you need someone to cover for you, count us in,” Forest said, giving him a smile. It killed Chris a little on the inside that Forest was one of his best friends and he didn’t know about him, and yet _Wesker_ did. He’d have to come out to him and to Jill -- they deserved to hear it from him and not from Wesker or anyone else.

He’d do it during their lunch break. Yeah, that was a good idea. “What’s the plan for today?”

“We have a morning meeting about the upcoming schedule.” Chris jumped because Wesker was _right_ behind him and he hadn’t noticed; judging by the way that Jill and Forest jumped, they hadn’t noticed either.

“We should get you a bell collar,” Chris blurted out. He never said the right thing when he was nervous. Or 95% of the time, really.

His two friends gasped but Wesker just smiled. “Should you get a shock collar then?” It was probably the closest to a joke they had ever heard come from his lips.

\---

Chris was completely tense throughout the whole meeting and even when they were having coffee and bagels (Wesker and Enrico refused to let them have doughnuts while on the job) afterwards.

“Chris.” Wesker’s voice was soft, as if he was trying to soothe a dying animal. “Can I see you in my office?”

_Here we go._ Chris already considered himself a practically dead man.

He followed him without a word. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought that he saw Jill looking concerned.

_Oh well._

Wesker closed the door behind them. “I don’t want you to be worried about your job.”

If Chris was honest, he had kinda thought that Wesker was above the whole blackmailing for sex kind of thing.

“Okay, Captain.”

“I would also like to tell you that I won’t tell anyone.”

“Thank you, Captain.”

Wesker sighed. “You don’t have to call me that, when it’s just the two of us.” He let out a little laugh. “To be honest with you, I hate all of this decorum. Why do you need to call me by a different title? You all know who’s in charge.” He leaned against his desk, hands bracing himself on both sides. He had his sunglasses on and had to push them back, sighing again as he did. “I can understand not wanting people to know something. How about we make it even?”

“Whatever you feel is best, Wesker.”

He looked at, what Chris assumed was, straight at him. “Are you sick? You’re awfully placid today.”

“I’m,” he hesitated, but he knew for a fact that not finishing his sentence would aggravate Wesker. “I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

Wesker took off his sunglasses suddenly. His eyes were pale green, borderline blue. “I have a light sensitivity. The fluorescent lighting is absolutely killer on them. Right now, you look like a glowing blob of white, blue, and brown.”

Chris hissed, picking them up from the desk and putting them back on Wesker’s face. “You don’t have to put yourself in pain for my benefit.”

Wesker hummed. “Would you consider going to lunch with me, for my own troubles?”

Chris’s hands were still on the arm of the glasses. He let them drop as he felt his stomach do the same. Even with telling him the reason for the sunglasses, was Wesker still going to take advantage of him?

He must have read his mind because Wesker frowned slightly, pressing himself even farther back onto the desk, as if he was trying to create more distance between them. “I realize that not everyone interested in men is interested in every man. In addition, I don’t know the extent of your relationship with the man from last night. This all being said, I have been interested in you, and I want you to feel free to say no. I don’t want whatever we could turn into to affect the team in any potential way.”

Chris sat down on the chair in front of Wesker’s desk. “You like me? _And_ you’ve liked me for a while?” He had, of course, thought about Wesker -- in honesty, anyone with eyes would have thought about him -- but he hadn’t thought that anything would come out of it. After all, there was the whole _they work together_ and the previously assumed _Wesker’s as straight as a ruler_ thing. But, apparently, neither of these things mattered. “This isn’t some joke, is it? Like, you told the office before I came in and Forest thought that this would be funny and you were like ‘sure, why not?’”

He scoffed. “I doubt that my humor rarely coincides with that of Forest’s.” He didn’t say anything further for a moment as he gauged Chris’s reaction. “This is not a joke and yes, I do like you.”

Chris smiled, face lighting up not unlike a golden retriever’s as the tension seeped out of him. “That’s, um, that’s, wow. I like you, too.”

Wesker couldn’t stop a goofy grin from spreading across his face. It didn’t set quite right on his thought, but Chris thought that it was the thought that counted.

“Would you like to go to dinner tomorrow night? I can pick you up after work and we could go out of the city, where we wouldn’t have to worry about people recognizing us.”

“Yeah, that sounds great.” Their eyes met and for a second, there was no possible way that their smiles could come off of their faces.

And then Enrico knocked on the door, because he had a meeting with Wesker.

\---

Claire started laughing. “That’s how the two of you started dating? Really?”

The two looked at each other. “I mean yeah, pretty much,” Chris said. The two had been relaying the events that lead up to their first date as accurately as possible. “What were you expecting?”

“An explosion or something, like maybe he takes a bullet for you, during work and Wesker admitting his feelings for you as you’re rushed to the hospital.”

He burst out laughing. “My feelings? You mean the ones that involve being reminded that my lovely boyfriend is headstrong,”

“Brave,” Chris cut in.

“stubborn,”

“Dedicated.”

“foolhardy,”

“Quick to act.”

“and, last not but least, undoubtedly one of my best team members.”

Chris opened his mouth to correct him, but then closed his mouth. “Do you really think that or are you just trying to butter up my sister?”

Wesker leaned over and kissed him, cupping his face as he did. “I’d never lie to you, Chris.”

He smiled at him, ducking his head slightly.

Claire clapped her hands together. “Well, does anyone want pasta for dinner? I don’t think we have any in the pantry, so I’m going to go to the store and I’ll be there for a few hours.”

“Oh, Claire, you don’t-”

She cut Chris off. “Yes, yes I do.” While she was talking, she grabbed her bag and walked out.

As soon as the door was closed, Wesker pulled Chris onto his lap. “Do you remember what we did after that first date?”

_It was only the best rimjob of my life, or at least until you did it again._ He nodded and let out a soft moan just at the thought.

Wesker chuckled as he picked him up, Chris locking his arms around his neck. He took them to the bathroom and quickly undid their clothes before getting Chris into the shower. His legs were wrapped around Wesker’s hips as he started to kiss him, keeping him what seemed to be as close as possible.

“Love you,” he said in between kissing and breathing. “God, I love you so much.” He rutted against Wesker’s abs, holding back moans.

“Love me or my body?” Wesker teased, nuzzling his neck, leaving tiny nips.

Chris ran his fingers through Wesker’s hair, quieting the moment. “All of you.” He kissed him again. “From the tips of your toes to the top of your head and everything in between.”

Wesker slowly set him down. “Thank you. I love you too, okay?” _Do you honestly realize that?_ He was quiet for a moment, gathering his thoughts together. “I’ve never loved someone as much as I’ve loved you.” And he had loved people before Chris like plants loved the sun. This was more of a need though; if he lost Chris, he wasn’t sure that he’d be able to handle it well in the slightest.

He leaned into Chris’s hands as they came up to rest on his cheeks. They kissed again softly, pressed as closely together as possible.

Their foreheads rested together for a moment. “We should wash up before we lose all of the hot water,” Chris told him. Wesker knew perfectly well that Chris could take cold showers, but after his time in the air force, he avoided them whenever possible and he’d found that Wesker was more than happy to indulge.

He gave him another quick kiss. “Alright.”

\---

When Claire came back to the apartment, she found Chris curled up against Wesker, half asleep as the other softly read a book aloud. Nyx was curled up on top of their legs, painting a perfect family picture.

“Are we still on for pasta?” Claire whispered. It looked like Chris was falling deeper into sleep by the minute, even though she couldn’t imagine that Wesker’s chest was a very comfortable pillow. Maybe it was more of an emotional or familiar thing than it was out of comfort.

“If you don’t mind making it,” Wesker told her. He shifted slightly, earning an annoyed look from Nyx and a sleepy noise from Chris. “I’ll make sure that Chris is up by the time it’s finished.”

She smiled at them. “Yeah, that’s fine.” She glanced down at her brother, making sure that he was asleep. “I’m really glad that the two of you met each other.”

“So am I.”


	7. "Gold"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wesker is Surprisingly Nervous and Chris is starting to have some issues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one day wow  
> This'll probably happen again because I'm behind on my to do list lol.

Wesker had no idea how to go about this. Should he ask Barry? No, Barry would just tell someone, and maybe, tops, Wesker would have three someones before Chris found out. So, Barry was definitely out. He could just go to a jewelry store, but it would be just his luck that someone would see him.

This train of thought left him with only one option.

After dinner, he put a four of Chris’s most recent cupcakes into a box. “I’m going to be out for a few hours, do you need anything from the store?”

Chris looked up from his new dessert recipe book. “It’s not necessary, but it would be great if you could get some shredded coconut. I’m not even sure that I’ll be able to get to this recipe soon, but coconut keeps for a while, I think.”

Wesker leaned over the back of the couch and kissed him on the cheek. “Your wish is my command.”

“Thanks babe.” He looked over his shoulder to smile at Wesker before he walked out.

“Don’t forget to have dinner,” he reminded him.

Chris pointed to a cabinet without looking up from the book. “I’ve got plenty of cans of ravioli.”

\---

Sherry had opened the door and was running down the walkway before Wesker had even opened the door to get out of his car. She wrapped her arms around him, squeezing him as tightly as possible, like children tend to do. “I’m so glad that you came tonight! We’re having fajitas.” 

Fajitas meant that at least one of her parents were there, which had been his hope, though he wouldn’t be surprised if she could’ve helped him on her own. “How’s school?” he asked her as they walked in, one hand occupied by one of Sherry’s and his other with the box of cupcakes.

She let out an extremely undignified noise. “I wish that I could just hang around your office all day! Watching you do paperwork would be more enlightening than what they put me through. How are Nyx and Chris?”

“Very good. Chris is at home with a new recipe book, so that’s exciting.”

She looked over at the box in his hand. “Please tell me those are some of Chris’s cupcakes and not from that place downtown.”

“I wouldn’t have dreamed about coming here without them.”

“How many did you bring? If I have one now, will my parents notice?”

He laughed as they walked through the doorway. “You can have mine, we still have plenty at the apartment.”

Her face lit up. “I might just have to sneak over.”

“Whenever you want to visit me, just call and I’ll pick you up.”

She nodded. “You’re the best godfather in the entire world!”

“Albert, no matter how cute she is, please do not get her the pony she’s been asking for.” William was leaning against the archway, a lazy smile on his face. His whole body looked more relaxed than Wesker had seen him in _years_. “I don’t wan the pony that I get her to be overshadowed.”

She smiled at that, but it wasn’t hard to tell that she was distrustful of what he had said. No one could blame her; too many times over the past few years, William and Annette had broken their promises to her.

“Albert! What a lovely surprise,” Annette said as she came out from the kitchen, wearing half of an apron over her equally casual clothing. “What’s the occasion?”

He pressed his hands together. He couldn’t understand why he was so nervous -- these were his best friends, after all. He couldn’t imagine Chris getting this awkward around Jill or Forest or Barry. “Before I get into it, why are the two of you so happy? Has there been a breakthrough?”

The couple exchanged a look. “It’s more than a breakthrough,” Annette began.

“I wanted to tell you when it was just a breakthrough, but Annie here thought I would be jinxing it,” William continued. “We did it, Wesker, we found the cure for lung cancer.”

Wesker brought the two into an uncharacteristically strong bear hug. “I can’t begin to tell you how proud I am of you two and how happy I am for you. Does this mean more time at home?”

They nodded. “We are going to have some conferences and hospitals to go to, but yes, we’re going to finally be able to spend more time at home,” she explained to him. “Now, you obviously didn’t come here to hear about us.”

“No, no, it’s fine. I _am_ very happy for you. Sherry told me that you’re having fajitas, is there any room for me? I brought cupcakes.”

“Of course, but there’s clearly something bothering you. Is something wrong between you and, ah, Chris, is it?”

“No, nothing’s wrong.” He ran a hand through a hair. “It’s really quite the opposite; I want to propose to Chris.”

Sherry and Annette gasped. “That’s so amazing!” the youngest Birkin said. “That means we’ll _always_ have his baking, right? Which means that he could make my birthday cake like, every year?”

The three adults laughed. “If you talk to him, I’m sure that he’ll be happy to bake a cake for you, regardless if he’s with me or not,” Wesker explained. “My problem is that I have no idea what to get for him. The ring, I mean. Do I still get him an engagement ring? Do I get him a wedding band?”

“ _You’re_ stressing out over proposing? The way you were acting, I almost expected you to tell us that Chris was actually a girl _and_ pregnant.” William moved from the archway and into the kitchen, causing the other three to follow him.

Wesker felt himself blanche at the mere thought of what William had just said. “Are you going to tell me that you weren’t nervous about proposing to Annette? I distinctly remember you calling me from a pay phone outside of the restaurant and you sobbing that you couldn’t do it.”

Annette clapped her hands. “I knew that the red around you eyes wasn’t just from the lighting! Has our marriage been built entirely on lies?” Her voice was overtly dramatic and playful.

Sherry got up on her tiptoes; Wesker leaned to the side so that she could whisper into his ear. “Aren’t they acting a little _too_ happy?”

The thought had crossed his mind, but he trusted them enough to believe that their happiness was truly from the success of the work that they had worked so long on. So, in response to Sherry, he just shrugged.

“Getting back to Wesker’s dilemma,” William said, “I think that just a plain band would be perfectly fine. He is after all just a man, he can’t be that much harder to please than you or I.”

The thing was that Wesker didn’t think that _just_ would cut it for Chris. But, Wesker hummed in order to placate William. 

“Yes, that would probably be the best. I’m honestly surprised that no one has stoned the two of you yet.” When Annette earned looks from William and Wesker, she went on: “Oh, please. You two can’t be so dense as to think that no one will ever say that your relationship is an abomination, especially when we live in a mountainous community in the Midwest of _the United States_. If I’m being honest, I’m surprised that everyone at S.T.A.R.S. has been accepting. Are you sure that no one has harassed Chris behind your back?”

Even as the words came out of her mouth, they knew that it was hard to do something behind Wesker’s back; they were, after all, talking about Wesker. His god awful vision was compensated that he had an above perfect sense of hearing. Considering that he was in the office more than Chris, it would be hard for anyone who wasn’t his friend to say something and for Wesker not to know.

“We’ll deal with it as it comes,” Wesker said simply. “In addition, if people didn’t wish to know about my abomination of a relationship, then they shouldn’t be so nosy.”

Annette just smiled at him. “I’m happy that you can think of it in that way, Wesker. Now, come on, dinner’s been ready.”

\---

In retrospect, Wesker would admit that his eyes had been bigger than his stomach and now that he was completely stuffed with four fajitas, Sherry really did get to have his cupcake. She and William cleaned up after they had had dessert, while Wesker and Annette sat at the table, drinking coffee.

“Maybe you could personalize it somehow,” she told him. “Maybe with his birthstone? The date that you first went on a date?”

He nodded. “Those are all good ideas.” He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you.”

\---

Wesker had thought about having Chris’s birthstone be in the band, but that didn’t seem personal enough. The ring was supposed to symbolize the two of them coming together. So, he decided that having Nyx’s birthstone. She was born in November, but they got her February, so he decided that there would be topaz and amethyst set in the band. When he was researching gems at the library, on one of his breaks, he found that peridot, when set in gold, would protect the wearer from nightmares. Considering that Chris was having them more and more, he figured that it wouldn’t hurt to have one of them as well. In any case, they had met in August, so it made sense.

His hands stilled as he thought about the nightmares. It almost physically pained him to think about Chris being upset over something that shouldn’t be able to hurt him. But they did, and more than a few times since Claire had gone back to college, Chris would wake up in the middle of the night, screaming her name. Too often for comfort, Chris was screaming his name, instead. The worst part of it was probably the fact that Chris wouldn’t confide in him; he would just cling to him as he regulated his breathing, eventually drifting back off to sleep.

He closed the book and put it back when he noticed he only had ten minutes left of his break. The walk back to work was pleasant as winter faded into spring, just like Chris had been hoping for. Wesker was hoping that it would help with the nightmares, but it hadn’t done much yet.

\---

The ring was bought and hidden in a corner of Wesker’s drawer where Chris wouldn’t think to look for anything; underneath a bundle of letters that had been established as incredibly personal early on in the relationship. It was fitting that two vital parts of the two most important relationships of his life would be side by side, at least for a time.

Wesker had no idea when he was going to propose, or if he was even going to get the courage to do it (because no matter how sure he was that Chris wanted to be with him, actually cementing it with a marriage was a _terrifying_ idea).

They took a quick shower together before attempting to settle in for the night. Wesker had proven himself capable of going without food for a normally unhealthy amount of days without any side effects, but Chris was a completely different story. Realizing that Chris was probably starving but just ignoring it, Wesker went and microwaved him a can of ravioli.

He brought it back on a tray with some saltine crackers and a bottle of water for each of them.

“M’not hungry,” Chris muttered as he leaned against Wesker.

Wesker speared a ravioli and brought it up. “Should I go the airplane or the train route?”

Chris stuck his tongue out before opening his mouth for it.

Wesker tried to push down the fact that, while it could be annoying at the wrong time, he was more than happy to accommodate Chris’s attitude.

When they finished eating, Chris having forced Wesker to have some as well, and Wesker had cleaned up and come back to bed, Chris just brought him down next to him before straddling him. “One of my nightmares almost came true today,” he confessed, fisting Wesker’s shirt as he did. “That’s why I seized up. Because I recognized the scenario.”

He’d wondered why Chris had become totally unresponsive for a solid minute, but he hadn’t had the chance with everything that had been going on since the morning.

“Chris,” he said softly, fingers massaging the back of his neck, “Nothing you dream about is going to come true.”

He buried his face in Wesker’s neck. “I keep watching you die. Over _and over_ again.”

Wesker held him as close as he felt like he could. “I’m not going to leave you.” He thought about the ring in the drawer, about how badly he wanted them just to be together. “Okay? I promise. _Together_ , Chris. I meant it.”

He relaxed against him. “I know that you meant it.” He took a deep breath before wrapping his arms around Wesker. “I love you.”

“I know.” He gave Chris a kiss on the cheek. _I know._


	8. "Home"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another flashback! Takes place after "Fluidity" and before "Albert" and features Chris basically moving in with Wesker.

Chris dropped his messenger bag as soon as he walked into his shitty motel room. He’d been here for what felt like forever, freezing his ass off because there was only one setting on the air conditioner, which he liked to not-so affectionately call “Hell _has_ frozen over.”

At the very least, the small space forced him to be as tidy as he had been when he was in the air force. He took a deep breath as he triple checked that everything was in the right place before sitting down in one of the kitchen chairs.

Wesker _had_ to know that he was living in a motel. He’d known when Chris had first come to Raccoon City and he could remember clear as day the way that he’d told him he could help him find a more permanent home. It’d been kind, not demeaning. But, he’d never taken Wesker up on the offer, or Barry, or Jill, or Forest, and know he was kind of screwed, because Wesker was coming over.

He was probably still at the office and Chris could just call him and cancel dinner. It was just going to be some Thai that Wesker would be picking up on his way over, so it wasn’t anything great or something to be looking forward to.

_I mean, yeah, it would be the first time that we would do something within the city limits, so if I canceled, he’d probably be worried that I wasn’t interested anymore._ And, he was very, very interested still.

It was about twenty minutes before Wesker was supposed to arrive when he called Chris. “I know that we had plans for tonight but I just found out that there’s a one night performance of _The Music Man_ , and I was wondering if you wanted to go see that instead? It’s, ah, a musical.”

Really, they had been limiting themselves to dinner and a sexual escapade of the day, so maybe this would be a nice change. Plus, this way, Wesker wouldn’t have to really see his current living situation, and it would all be for the best. “Yeah, that sounds great!”

“Great.” Chris could practically see that goofy smile on his face. “I’ll pick you up in fifteen?”

“Yep! I’ll see you then.”

He still checked, for the fourth time, that the room was clean. Then, he made sure that he looked alright, feeling even more pressured now that he was going to be going somewhere. For good measure, he changed from one of his work shirts into a casual, long sleeve t-shirt.

“Alright, you look just fine, Redfield, just fine.” He smoothed down the shirt, checked to make sure that his jeans weren’t sagged, and saw that he still had five minutes.

So, because he was full of nervous anticipation, he made sure that, for the fifth time that night, the room was clean.

He forced himself to sit down in a chair again. When he finally ( _finally_ ) thought that he was relaxed, there was a knock on the door. He bounced up and opened it in what was probably record timing.

Of course, Wesker looked perfect. He must have stopped at his apartment or used the showers at the station, because he smelled _fantastic_ and his hair looked, as usual, amazing. “Hello again.”

“Hey. Do you want a cup of coffee or anything before we go?”

“No, I’m fine, thank you. You look good, by the way.”

Chris had realized, pretty quickly, that Wesker liked to start out a date with a compliment or two. He didn’t really like to admit it, but he felt himself preen a little at them. “You look gorgeous,” he blurted out, and wanted to slap himself. _Jesus, Redfield, you don’t tell other men that they’re gorgeous. This_ was definitely up with the whole ‘bell collar’ incident.

In any case, Wesker did end up smiling at him, an ever so slight blush even appearing on his cheeks. “Thank you. Shall we be off?”

“Yeah, of course.” He grabbed his wallet as they walked out. Instinctively, he reached out for Wesker’s hand but then he remembered himself and that they were in Raccoon City, so his hand dropped.

Of course, Wesker noticed, but he didn’t comment on it as they got into the car.

\---

“Okay, I absolutely loved that,” Chris admitted. “And, I’ll be honest. The only other musicals I’ve seen is when Claire was in them in middle school.”

He laughed. “I’ll be honest and tell you that recently, the only plays I’ve been seeing are the ones my goddaughter is reluctantly in, so this was a nice change.”

Chris nodded as he brought his hands up and onto his shoulders in an attempt to try to warm himself. The night had suddenly turned rather cold for early September, and considering that he was only in a t-shirt, he was freezing. In the next moment, he felt Wesker’s warm, fur lined leather jacket on his shoulders. He glanced over at Wesker and saw that he was in a turtleneck sweater, which was perfect for the weather, so he didn’t feel bad about slipping it on.

“Would you like to get some dinner? There’s a good Italian place just around the corner.” As Chris watched Wesker talk, he noticed that his fingers were flexing and unflexing.

“Sounds great! Are you alright though?” _Did I do something?_

Wesker glanced down at his hands, as if he hadn’t realized he had been moving them. “Sorry. I used to smoke.” He hesitated before talking again. “When I’m nervous, I kind of itch for one.” 

Chris stopped walking a few feet from the restaurant’s door. “Nervous? About what?” _He probably has a gorgeous ex who works here._

Wesker just stared at him.

“Oh. _Oh_. I make you nervous?”

“I’m nervous about messing this up,” he clarified.

“Well, just to let you know, it takes a lot for someone in my book to be considered as a ‘mess-up.’ I like to believe that I’m very patient and forgiving.” A beat came and went, encompassing Wesker trying his best not to laugh. “When it comes to relationships,” he clarified.

Wesker reached out and squeezed his hand. It was probably the most intimate thing that they should do in public, but it was enough to make Chris’s heart skip a beat put a smile on his face. “Thank you.”

They went into the restaurant. Without even asking who they were, the hostess brought them to a table in the corner. “Enjoy your meal, gentlemen.”

Chris was looking at his menu when he glanced at Wesker and saw that he was blankly looking at his own. Because of the dim lighting, Wesker had taken off his sunglasses, allowing Chris to read his face rather easily.

“I’m guessing that you’re a regular here?”

Wesker smiled at him. “A bit of one. I know the owner personally, as well.”

Chris wondered if they were only there because Wesker had a discount, and then realized that he didn’t care because he would definitely be doing the same. “That’s cool. What are you going to get?”

“Chicken parmesan. Is there anything that interests you?”

“I was thinking that the ravioli sounds good, have you ever had it here?”

He nodded. “It is very good here and it pairs well with their house white wine.”

Chris smiled coquettishly, “Are you trying to get me drunk and take advantage of me, Captain?”

He took a tip a sip of his water. “How would you feel if I was?”

He leaned forward. “I’d be pleased to realize that you thought I would be that difficult to get into your bed.”

“I like seeing you happy and relaxed,” he admitted right before the waitress came.

\---

Chris was leaning against Wesker as he drove back to the motel. “I had a really nice time tonight. Thank you.”

They were at the stop light right before the motel, so he leaned over and kissed Chris’s cheek. “I had an amazing time with you, too.”

He was pleasantly buzzed and in a post date afterglow of sorts, so he was completely shocked when he saw that half of the motel had been _burned down_. He sat up quickly, getting out of the car as quickly as possible, running up to the manager. “Is everyone alright?”

“Oh, yes. I-I’m really sorry, Mr. Redfield, but you won’t be able to stay here anymore. Your room wasn’t affected, but we can’t-”

“It’s fine.” He pulled her into a hug. “Let me know if I can help you in anyway.”

“Thank you, Mr. Redfield.”

He paid for the week and gathered his belongings; it wasn’t hard, he still lived out of his suitcases. He would be lying if he had said that he wasn’t surprised that Wesker was still there. “I’m really sorry to ask you this, but would you mind driving me to a hotel?” he asked after Wesker had rolled the window down.

Wesker tilted his head. “Get in.”

He put his bags into the back and sat down in the front seat again. He was shaking, but he couldn’t really figure out if that was because he was upset or because he was cold. He found out that it was the former when he started crying. “Sorry, sorry. Just,” he sniffed back. “You can just drop me off wherever.”

“You’re obviously distressed,” Wesker pointed out. Chris noticed that his hands readjusted themselves on the steering wheel, tightening around it. “I don’t think that you should be alone right now.”

He looked him in the face. “Are you,” the question died off as they pulled up to an apartment building. “Huh. I never really pictured you in a place like this.”

“Oh?” Wesker got out and took one of Chris suitcases. “Where did you think I would live?”

Chris shrugged. “You always seemed like the mansion kind of guy to me, I guess.”

“I grew up in one.” He left it at that for a second before: “I’m sure they would be nice if one wasn’t alone for a large majority of the day.”

As he shouldered his other bag, Chris wanted to say _you don’t ever have to be alone anymore_ but stopped himself, attempting to avoid seeming like a romantic sap. Instead, he just followed Wesker into the building. There was an option between the stairs and an elevator; Chris was relieved when Wesker went to the elevator. He wasn’t sure that his legs could carry him up the stairs.

Wesker tugged Chris to himself when they got into the elevator. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

He nodded. “Just shaken, I guess. I’m not sure what I would have done if everything I owned had gone up in flames.”

He realized, too late as the elevator doors opened, that Wesker had been half-hugging him. Chris stepped aside and let him go ahead so that he could lead them to the apartment.

Wesker, of course, showed his natural grace as he opened the door and let Chris inside.

He couldn’t hold in a gasp. “Holy shit, this place is beautiful.” It was an open floor plan, but easily at least five times the size of the motel room. There was a kitchen with a bar _and_ an island and the oven looked so amazing. The living room area had a black leather couch and two matching chairs. There was a TV cabinet, but no TV or movies. All around, there were books; textbooks, recipe books, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, classics -- it was basically a library in there. His eyes fell on the bed and he almost dropped his bag because it looked so luxurious.

“Thank you.” Wesker closed and relocked the door before kissing Chris on the cheek. “Do you want to take a shower?”

Chris dropped the bag that he was holding. “I’m sorry, I’m pretty tired. Is it alright if I just go to bed? Or, um, the couch really.”

“Nonsense, we can both sleep on the bed. If you’re alright with that, that is.”

His face lit up. “Yeah, that sounds really nice.”

They got ready for bed, moving around each other rather effortlessly. Chris made the first move to be on the bed, tugging the sheets back and getting underneath them on one side. Wesker came out a few minutes later, laying down on his back.

Silence hung in the air for a few moments before Chris burst out laughing. “Should we kiss or something?”

Wesker looked over at Chris. “Do you want to?”

“Well, kind of.” He grabbed Wesker’s closest hand. “I don’t think that we’ve ever kissed on the lips.”

“We’ve just done everything else?” He sat up and brought Chris onto his lap. “I do want to kiss you.”

“Good.” Chris put his hands on Wesker’s shoulders and he put his hands on Chris’s hips. He leaned forward slightly and tilted his head to the side. Wesker leaned up and kissed him, bringing him as close as possible. Chris felt all warm as his fingers went up to Wesker’s hair, tugging on it slightly and producing a soft moan. When they pulled away, they were gasping slightly, foreheads pressed together.

Wesker squeezed his hips. Chris nuzzled his neck for a moment before un-straddling him. He laid back down and Chris put his head on his chest.

“I-” he started, then stopped himself, squeezing one of Wesker’s hands again. _I love you._

Wesker didn’t say anything, just ran his hand down Chris’s back and brought him closer. _Love you, too._

As Chris drifted off to sleep, he finally felt like he was at the right place, after years of what felt like wandering.

He loved being home.


End file.
